Where is the National Guard? Where is the Army? Where is FEMA?

Well, the Army and National Guard seem to be in Iraq. A few guardsmen--too few, so far--have made their way into New Orleans. And FEMA seems to be completely failing to do its job. People who have gone to the Superdome, as they were told to do, or who have been rescued and have been taken there, are dying of dehydration inside the dome, and outside on the sidewalk. And nobody seems to be doing much about it.

And what does Michael Brown, head of FEMA have to say about this situation? Brown, when asked by Wolf Blitzer what could have been done differently--the thrust of the question was actually what could FEMA have done differently--replied that what should have been done differently is that the people should have known better than to not leave before the storm. He said--with a hint of Republican puzzlement in his voice--that he didn't know why some residents chose not to leave, but that they should have left.

I heard him say it. Minutes ago, on CNN.

You'd think at some point I'd stop being astonished by what words can come out of a Republican politico's mouth.